Dora the Explorer Cake Tutorial

I drawing an idea of how I wanted the cake to look, I layed out the cupcakes.  I marked each with a colored toothpick to indicate where the "grass", "river" and "road" would go.

First I frosted the "river" in white, later I sprayed it with Wilton Color Mist.  I then began laying out the "grass" sections.  Note how I blended them together on top.

Then built the "road", since it was in the center, so I could build outward and avoid messing up the frosting.  I coated the "road" in brown sugar to give it a dirt look.

 I then added the remaining "grass" areas.

 I made a little bridge out of fondant to cross the "river".  I cut a piece of cardboard to the size I wanted, rolled it until it held the curved shape then topped it with fondant "boards".  I placed that across the river and then used the Wilton Grass Tip to pipe frosting into the spaces where the frosting wasn't blended.

Little "bushes" were added here and there.  Then I started placing figurines.

The final product.  The "SAMI" stars are made of fondant.  The rocks are candy, as are the little flowers placed around in the grass.

Back to Dora the Explorer Birthday.

Pirate Birthday

As Stephen's 4th birthday was approaching, his interests turned to pirates.  So, of course, the birthday party planning did as well.

the invitation

The gorgeous invitation was handmade by Megan Hedge of Pink Press Designs.  They felt so authentic and I just loved them!  You know, because I know what an authentic treasure map feels like.  *wink*

the birthday outfit

The shirt was homemade (my first attempt at sewing clothing!).  It was quite simple actually, since pirate garb is meant to look sloppy.  LOL  The accessories all came from Oriental Trading.

the cake

 Covered in mainly fondant, this cake took me 10 hours to make!  Those little boards we incredibly time-consuming!  I was thrilled with the final product though!  Made from sheet cakes cut and layer into the boats body, then covered from stem to stern in little brown "fondant boards".  The masts were wooden dowels, also covered in fondant.  The sails, fondant again, painted with watered down black food coloring.  The only things not made of fondant are the pirate flag (printed on regular paper, taped to a toothpick and stuffed into the fondant), the "cannons" (peanut butter cups) and the pirate and treasure.

This adorable set was made by Tina over at clayinaround.  She does the best work and is incredible nice!

the decorations

The decorations consisted mostly of red and black and a bunch of Jolly Roger flags.  This sign was from a local party store.  I separated the "happy" and "birthday" and added my own "4th" and "stephen" below.  Simply printed the letters on plain paper and cut the ends to look ratty like pirate flags.

For the perfect photo-op, I purchased this door banner from Oriental Trading.

Most of the decorating was on the food table.

the food

For lunch, our guests enjoyed, Parrot Wings (bbq and "fire in the hole" buffalo wings), Walk the Plank (cream cheese & peanut butter filled celery sticks), Shiver Me Timbers (pretzel sticks), Sea Dogs (Lil' Smokies), Polly Want a Cracker (cheese & crackers), Cannon Balls (peanut butter balls dipped in black colored white chocolate), Treasure Chests (pizza rolls), Shark Bait (shrimp cocktail), Chips Ahoy Mates (Chips Ahoy cookies), and Silver and Gold Bricks (Hershey Nuggets).  I used cocktail "swords" to hold all of the food signs in place.  Covered the table in red and black tablecloths, as well as some Jolly Roger fabric.  Costume jewelry and tarnished silver looked like treasure and Halloween decorations (the skeleton parts) finished off this fantastic look!

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The Pirate Bedroom

Not only is Stephen's 4th birthday approaching, but the extension on our house is nearly done, which means Stephen's about to get a brand new bedroom!  We're decorating it with a pirate theme.  I've made some paintings to hang in his room.

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